In this article
- Start here: the learning path
- What do education interviews test?
- Skill 1: Planning and teaching a lesson
- Skill 2: Supporting every learner
- Skill 3: Safeguarding and professional boundaries
- Teacher assistant interview questions
- Teacher of English interview questions
- Special education teacher interview questions
- Music teacher interview questions
- Preschool teacher interview questions
- Substitute teacher interview questions
- Questions interviewers ask on education roles
- All 10 guides in Education and teaching
- Follow-up questions
- Sources
Start here: the learning path
- Education interview
- An education interview is a hiring conversation, usually with a head or principal, a department lead and sometimes pupils, in which a school judges whether you can plan and teach, support every learner, keep children safe and work well with colleagues and families.
- Safeguarding
- Safeguarding is the set of duties and actions that protect children from harm and promote their welfare, which every adult in a school must know and follow, whatever their role.
- Demonstration lesson
- A demonstration lesson is a short lesson, taught to real pupils or to the panel, that a school asks a candidate to plan and teach so it can see classroom practice, not just hear about it.
Read the three skill sections below first, because every question list builds on them. Then pick the list for the role in front of you. The order is: skills here, then the role list, then rehearsal aloud with a timer.
Text description of the diagram
- Plan one goal per lesson.
- Keep the goal and change the route for most pupils.
- Name the reporting rule that applies where you work.
- Teacher interview questions for special education
- Interview questions and answers for teaching: planning, behavior, STAR stories
- Interview questions for a resident assistant
- Pre-K teacher interview questions on play-based learning, behavior and families
What do education interviews test?
Education interviews test what the job involves every day: teaching, helping pupils with different needs, behaviour, working with adults and protecting children. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists the work of high school teachers as planning lessons and teaching a subject, assessing pupils, adapting lessons, grading, communicating with parents, working with individual pupils, enforcing classroom rules and supervising pupils outside class (Bureau of Labor Statistics, high school teachers, modified 27 August 2026). The same page counts about 1.1 million jobs in 2025 and projects little or no change from 2025 to 2035.
Posts are often replacements for people who leave, so many schools hire every year even when the total is flat. Interviewers therefore probe your planning, your inclusion, your behaviour methods and your judgement about what you must report.
In England the Teachers' Standards define the minimum level of practice for trainees and teachers to achieve qualified teacher status; the government page says both parts of the standards have statutory force (Department for Education, updated 13 December 2021). Link your examples to them.
Knowing it is half the job. Saying it is the other half.
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Start Free Trial →Skill 1: Planning and teaching a lesson
Teaching starts with a destination: what pupils should know or do by the end of the lesson. A strong lesson plan has one clear goal, a short starter, one main activity, a check for understanding and a plan for feedback. Many schools ask for a demonstration lesson, so practise teaching a ten-minute segment aloud to someone who is not a teacher and see whether they can say what they learned.
What does a panel watch in a demonstration lesson?
Make sure the panel sees how pupils respond to you, not only polished materials. Show a clear goal, questions that make pupils think, calm routines, correction of mistakes and a way to find out whether pupils learned. Also learn pupils' names quickly, ask questions of the whole class, and be ready to change the plan when a task is too easy or too hard. Say aloud why you made each change.
Skill 2: Supporting every learner
Supporting every learner means you can reach a goal by more than one route, and say when the goal itself has to change. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says special education teachers assess pupils' skills, adapt general lessons to fit each pupil's needs, plan and carry out individualized programs and measure progress (Bureau of Labor Statistics, special education teachers, modified 27 August 2026). In England, the code of practice for special educational needs and disability (SEND) sets out the system for children and young people aged 0 to 25 (Department for Education, updated 12 September 2024).
How do you answer questions about adaptation?
Name the goal, then the change. For most pupils keep the goal and change the route (an accommodation): sentence starters, pre-taught vocabulary, a visual, a smaller step or a choice of format. In special education a pupil's individualized education program may also change what the pupil is expected to learn (a modification), so say which one you mean. Describe one pupil in general terms, never by name: what you changed and what happened. Aim to name the goal first and be clear about whether the route or the goal moved.
Skill 3: Safeguarding and professional boundaries
Safeguarding questions have an exact answer, and the exactness is what is being tested. In England, Keeping children safe in education is statutory guidance; the 2026 edition came into force on 1 September 2026, and all staff must read part one in full (Department for Education, updated 1 September 2026).
In the United States, teachers, principals and other school personnel are named as mandated reporters in 44 States, and in about 17 States and Puerto Rico any person who suspects abuse or neglect must report; in 17 States, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands the law makes clear that school policy does not relieve the reporter of the duty; in 10 States the reporter must report to the child protection authority first and only then tell the school (Child Welfare Information Gateway, current through 31 May 2023).
So telling the school is often not enough: name your own state's rule. In England, follow the school's procedure under the guidance. In both, the first steps match: listen calmly, do not promise to keep a secret, write down what was said in the pupil's words, and report at once. Never investigate on your own.
Where do boundaries come in?
Boundaries are the limits that keep adult and pupil relationships professional. Keep to the school's code of conduct, use school channels with families, never share another child's information, and avoid private contact. Be ready for a question about what you would do if a parent or a pupil asks for something outside those limits; a sound answer names the rule, stays kind and tells a supervisor.
Teacher assistant interview questions
The teacher assistant interview questions page is the list for supporting a teacher in the classroom. A teacher assistant works with a licensed teacher to give pupils extra attention and instruction, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics counts about 1.5 million such jobs in 2025, most of them in public schools (Bureau of Labor Statistics, teacher assistants, modified 27 August 2026).
The list has nineteen questions on the role, working with the teacher, helping a pupil who is stuck, small-group sessions, special needs, behaviour and safeguarding. Use it if the post says assistant, aide or support staff. One question to practise is how to help without doing the work for the pupil, and the page shows an answer built on the Education Endowment Foundation's guidance.
Teacher of English interview questions
The teacher of English interview questions page is the list for secondary English posts in England. It groups its eighteen questions under motivation and standards, reading, writing and speaking, planning and assessment, and behaviour and safeguarding. It rests on English government documents: the national curriculum for English, the Teachers' Standards and the safeguarding guidance. Use it if you are applying to teach English, literature or reading, and also as a model of how a subject list is organised if your subject is different. Practise the questions about teaching poetry and Shakespeare to pupils who say they are boring or hard, and answer with a method, not only enthusiasm.
Special education teacher interview questions
The special education teacher interview questions page is the list for teaching pupils with disabilities. It carries twenty questions grouped under the legal basics, planning and teaching, behaviour, working with others and your own story. The legal basics include individualized education programs, free appropriate public education and the least restrictive environment, which are United States rules, and the page says how the picture differs elsewhere. Use it if the post is in special education or learning support, or if you are a general teacher who will teach pupils with an individualized program. When you cite the law, also say what you would do on Monday morning, so practise both halves.
Music teacher interview questions
The music teacher interview questions page is the list for school music posts. It holds twenty-two questions on philosophy and planning, rehearsal and class management, assessment, inclusion and technique, parents and concerts, and the demonstration lesson. Use it if the post asks you to teach a lesson, run a rehearsal or build a programme. It also gives a short plan for a demonstration lesson, which many schools ask of every subject; this guide has its own section on one above. Prepare an answer for what to do when a student wants to quit; it is a question about relationship, not repertoire.
Preschool teacher interview questions
The preschool teacher interview questions page is the list for teaching children before kindergarten. It holds twenty questions on play-based learning, behaviour, safety, families, assessment and inclusion, each with a short answer. Use it if the post is in a nursery, a preschool or a Head Start center (a US federal preschool program). Aim to show how you talk about play as learning and how you keep very young children safe, so practise describing one ordinary activity and what a child learns from it.
Substitute teacher interview questions
The substitute teacher interview questions page is the list for covering another teacher's class for a day or longer. It covers lesson plans left behind, class control with pupils you have just met, safety, privacy and the notes you leave for the regular teacher. Use it if you are joining a school's cover list. One question to prepare is what you do when the plan is missing or too short; answer with calm steps for the first five minutes.
More lists in this path
Three more lists are written for nearby roles: the elementary teacher list for primary-age classes, the occasional teacher list for the Ontario cover roster and its long-term posts, and the resident assistant list for student-housing roles at colleges. For the common question "what questions are asked in a teaching interview?", start with the role lists above, because each one covers the questions that role is asked.
Questions interviewers ask on education roles
These questions recur across the role lists. The one-line answers are starting points; each list gives the fuller answer.
- Why do you want to work in a school? Give a reason about pupils and one specific example.
- How would you help a pupil who is stuck? Prompt with a hint about the next step, wait, and step back.
- How do you manage behaviour? Follow the school's policy calmly and consistently, and address small things early and privately.
- What would you do if a pupil told you something worrying? Listen, do not promise secrecy, write it down and report at once through the route your law and school require, which in many US states includes child protective services as well as the school.
- How do you work with parents? Be proactive and specific, share good news too, and never discuss other pupils.
- Tell me about a time something went wrong. Name it, what you changed and how you check now.
Prepare a spoken introduction with the tell me about yourself page, practise story answers with the behavioral interviews guide and the situation, task, action, result (STAR) method, and end the round with questions to ask the interviewer. The interview loops guide shows how rounds are put together in general.
Follow-up questions
How do I prepare for a teaching interview?
Re-read the job description and the school's published policies, plan a short lesson with one goal, and practise three stories about behaviour, helping a pupil who struggled and working with another adult. Say each answer aloud against a timer, then read the teacher of English list or the list for your own role above.
What is a demonstration lesson in an interview?
It is a short lesson you plan and teach so the school can see your practice. Plan one goal, a starter, one activity and a check for understanding, learn names, and be ready to adapt. Skill 1 above says what to show a panel, and the music teacher list gives a short plan for one.
How do you answer safeguarding questions in a school interview?
Give the steps in order: listen calmly, do not promise secrecy, write down the pupil's words, and report at once through the route that applies where you work. In the United States that can include a report to child protective services as well as the school, and in England it is the school's safeguarding procedure under statutory guidance. Name the rule for your own location, and say you would never investigate alone. See Skill 3 above.
- Education interviews test planning, support for every learner, behaviour and safeguarding.
- For most pupils keep the goal and change the route; in special education the goal itself may change, so say which you mean.
- Safeguarding answers must be exact: listen, no promised secrecy, record, report at once, and name the reporting rule that applies where you work (in about 17 US States and Puerto Rico, any person who suspects abuse must report).
- In a demonstration lesson, show how pupils respond, not only the slides.
- Pick the role list that matches the post, then rehearse aloud.
Sources
- High School Teachers: Occupational Outlook Handbook — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 27 Aug 2026
- Special Education Teachers: Occupational Outlook Handbook — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 27 Aug 2026
- Teacher Assistants: Occupational Outlook Handbook — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 27 Aug 2026
- Teachers' Standards — Department for Education (GOV.UK), 13 Dec 2021
- Keeping children safe in education 2026 — Department for Education (GOV.UK), 1 Sep 2026
- Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse and Neglect — Child Welfare Information Gateway, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 31 May 2023
- SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years — Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care (GOV.UK), 12 Sep 2024
